leaving spain and refueling in gibraltar

Latitude: 36 degrees 8.8 N; Longitude: 5 degrees 22.6 W

We had a great time during our last two days in Spain. I had been battling a bad cold for several days and finally felt some relief, so we were able to spend more time walking in the city. We
found a Burger King and a MacDonalds, and walked by them shaking our heads, but I must admit we gave in to the Ben and Jerry's! Other than that, we sampled the local cuisine and tried out our limited Spanish. People in Cadiz are friendly and tolerant.

The guide on John's trip the first day had shown his group the city market so John and I went back there. It was full of beautiful fresh seafood and fish, meat and poultry, breads, and very colorful fruits and vegetables. It was too bad we had been told not to bring anything but sealed packages back to the ship -- we had to leave those wonderful cherries behind!

One thing we had read about and decided we wanted to visit was the Torre Tavira (Tavira Tower). This is one of several towers in Cadiz attached to houses and used in the 18th century for business families in the city to look out to the harbor and see the merchant ships arriving. In this way they knew when the items they are expecting were arriving. The towers are often named for the people that owned or operated them. The Torre Tavira was part of the palace of the Marquis of Recano and was named after its first watchman, Antonio Tavira. In 1778 it was named the official watchtower for the town because it was the highest lookout point.

The Torre Tavira also contains a camera obscura and being at the top is a bit like being inside a camera. Through a system of magnifying lenses and a mirror projecting on a screen that is a large horizontal bowl, various parts of the city can be seen and focused by moving the bowl up and down. It was fascinating and I'm happy we were able to locate the tower and get in to see it.
Our last day in Cadiz we took a bus tour that allowed us to see some beautiful beaches and gardens. This is something that would have been better to do at the beginning and I think we would have if I had been feeling better. We learned there are some sections of the city that are quite new and that the gardens are very beautiful.

On-ship time was 1800 yesterday, meaning that everyone had to be on board by 6 pm. If any passenger is late, he or she receives "dock time" at the next stop. (My junior high teaching background brings to mind detentions!) This applies to every single person: students, faculty, staff, family members, deans, everyone. For every 15 minutes late, the violator receives 1 hour of dock time where he or she must remain on the ship, missing any activities or planned trips. It's quite an incentive! There were no latecomers yesterday.

We left Cadiz last night at 2000 (8 pm) and headed for Gibraltar for refueling. Weather was very rough and about an hour after departing some cups and water bottles we had on the shelf hit the floor with an enormous clatter when the ship rolled sharply starboard. John slept right through it, but I was up for a couple of hours after that happened. We have been warned to pack everything away tonight, and after having seen all the ships plants, trash bins, tables, chairs and assorted odds and ends tied to the walls during the day today, you can be sure we have followed our cabin steward's suggestions! The sea was too rough today for refueling. A ship was dispatched to us for that purpose, but after about three hours of attempting to assemble the necessary plumbing, everyone gave up and we are now anchored for the night off the coast of Gibraltar. Another attempt will be made tomorrow. Since we were to arrive tomorrow morning in Casablanca, we are now behind schedule. The Field Office staff are working overtime tonight to try to reschedule the trips that were to take place tomorrow. John and I had a city orientation tour planned, but that will probably be fairly easy to do on Tuesday. Others who were travelling longer distances will have more difficulty. More about Casablanca can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca for those interested in looking.

We had a presentation this morning on Morocco from an American who has been living there for the last 20 years and learned a lot about the country, its history, and its relationship with the US. I did not know that the Normandy invasion was planned in Casablanca.
Tonight we had our logistical pre-port to talk about getting on and off the ship, documents required, health and safety issues in Morocco and so on. Staff have worked hard to make these sessions appealing, humorous and interesting for the students, and I think everyone pays attention as a result.

If the weather calms down tonight we will be on our way and will probably get to Casablanca by tomorrow evening. Stay tuned -- I'll let you know!